Page 145 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

I hear loud footsteps. Panic fills me. But when the door is thrown open, two familiar faces burst in at the same time.

Cedric.

Harriet.

Cedric makes a beeline toward me, but Harriet pulls him back. “No!” Her voice is a shout. “She’s too weak. Stay back.”

Weak?

I can’t talk. My throat feels like paper.

She approaches me and brings a small bottle to my lips, ordering, “Drink.”

I take a few sips and then sigh in relief.

“Don’t speak,” she says sharply. Her eyes are glistening with tears.

She opens the bedside drawer next to me and takes out several potions, forcing me to drink every one of them. Her touch is gentle, and I gulp them down thirstily. They taste like nothing, but my throat is so parched that they feel good.

When she’s finally done, Harriet murmurs, “Give it a few minutes. You’ll be better soon.”

She has one arm wrapped around my shoulders to support me, and soon enough, I feel my strength return.

“What happened?” I ask roughly. “Why am I here?”

Harriet looks at Cedric and nods her head. My mate is by my side in a heartbeat. “How are you feeling?”

His voice is hoarse, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in days.

“I’m tired. Where am I?”

“In the palace,” Cedric tells me. Finn’s wolf crawls into my lap and curls up. His body is trembling. I touch his fur and stroke him. He whimpers but does not shift into his human form.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been like this ever since he saw you,” Harriet tells me sadly. “He refuses to shift back.”

“Finn.” I touch his nose, his forehead, forcing him to look at me. “Finn, I want to see your face.”

He whimpers again, and Cedric says, “Give him some time. He hasn’t left your side in days.”

“What happened to me?”

Everything is very hazy right now. My memories are in chunks and bits, all over the place. I need somebody to help me piece them together.

“You don’t remember?” Cedric asks cautiously. “Vivian attacked you.”

Vivian.

Her very name sends a shock to my system. And then the memories start flooding back. The attack. Jerry.

“Where’s Jerry?”

“He’s fine,” Harriet assures me. “He woke up two days after the attack. You took two weeks, my dear. The royal healers have been working on you around the clock. You nearly died.” She wipes her eyes. “We didn’t know if you would ever wake up. Your injuries were life-threatening, and whatever Vivian gave you, it temporarily disconnected you from your wolf.”

“Is Vivian—”

“She’s dead,” Cedric says bluntly. “She died far too easily. But not before she answered a few questions.”

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